Patrick Sprague

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Making Music

A couple of days ago I mentioned that I’m working on a new album. Actually, I’m pretty sure it will be two separate albums finished at the same time. I toyed with combining them into one solid album, or a double-album, but I’m 90% sure at this point they’ll serve best as two separate albums, yet consecutive and continuous in thought. Think Jon Foreman’s “Summer” and “Winter”.

So I’ve been making progress. My motto the last couple of weeks has been to finish.
Finish something.
Finish something.
Finish something.

That’s what I’ve been doing. I’m anticipating about 8-10 songs per disc. I came into the process wanting to write some new tunes, revamp some others, and still finish others. Some the tunes hadn’t been written, some only had a hook, etc. So each day, I sit down, look at the list, and try and work on one. I’m making solid progress, it’s cathartic, it’s exciting, it’s a whole bunch of things.

Sonically, if you had asked me two months ago what my next album would sound like, I’d have told you folkish [read: Mumford-y]. Frankly, that’s just not where it’s gone, especially the first disc. It has layers of electric guitars (with great tone, I might add). It has has keys, and synths, and loops. It has lots of “oohs” and other vocal instrumentation. It has do-wop harmonies. It’s more Jimmy Eat World than Of Monsters and Men. It’s more Imagine Dragons than Mumford and Sons. There’s moments of Foster the People, Florence + The Machine and Springsteen. What can I say, it’ll be an interesting listen. Not trying to toot my own horn, but I think it sounds pretty.

The second disc is loud music focused towards worship. It has loud guitars, lots of layered delay lines, and a lot of questions for God. Think of it as the book of Psalms, extended by me. There’s moments in this album where I hear Benjamin Gate. [By the way, you’re welcome for that RIDICULOUSLY 90’s video of them]

On Monday, I met with the venerable Mike Routledge, who, in addition to be a good friend and boss, is also a fantastic producer that I respect. His studio has cranked out some beautiful albums that I love, including his own, as well as some other favorites. He agreed to take on the project and we laid out a rough timeline. I’ll be tracking the album, and Mike will produce, mix and master. We expect release for both discs sometime in January or February.

Which leads me to today. I won’t lie, I started to get pumped about the whole thing in the last 48 hours. I feel like I’m writing some of the best music I’ve written in 10 years. It’s raw. It’s honest. And it’s catchy. I really wanted to post one of the new tunes that came this week, “Pixels”. I debated about it. I’m listening to it right now. But for now, I’m going to hold off. I will give you a couple of selected lines though.

I assure though, I can’t stop listening to this song. I hope your experience is similar.

I swear, through the bending light and frames,
that I hear you calling out my name
and you know that my heart is yours to take
so you pose, and steal it frame by frame

The Fine Print

While you may find my thoughts to be awesome (or less so), they are solely mine, and don't necessarily reflect that of my employer, or anyone else. That being said, you can always send me your thoughts.